Samdado: the 3 Abundances

The old nickname for Jeju is Samdado, which translates to an island (do) of three (sam) abundances (da). They were introduced to me as: the three w's you will find on Jeju are wind, walls & women.  The first I am yet to see.  Since I arrived on the island, the weather has been hot, humid and stifling. We recently went for a sunset hike which should have been the cool of the day. Even at 6pm, the oppressive heat threatened the event. The awaiting van was like an oven and we were all drenched in sweat before arriving at the water's edge. And then we were met with not a breath of wind from the sea. 

Our first stop was a fishing village of Gosan-ri, where some of the squid boats return with their catch. The squid were all hung out to dry along the road side, and some vendors were selling the dried squid on carts and in small kiosks. I had noticed the boats out on the ocean at night, with their bright lights attracting their catch. Now I had a chance to see them up close and observe the oversized and powerful lightbulbs strung up from bow to stern.  Around sun set they all ventured out on the glassy sea and took up positions within sight of the shore.  Nearby a pod of dolphins played, and seemed in no hurry to get anywhere.  So where are these prevailing winds that the island experiences year round? 

There is no beach near the fishing port and it was quite impossible to reach the water to cool off since the shore was made up of volcanic rocks.  The whole island is one extinct volcano, and water's edge shows mounds and stacks of black hardened lava. This basalt rock is everywhere, carved into statues, used as paving stones, and piled up to make the dry-stone walls that border the fields. The soil is fertile but full of boulders. So the farmers clear their fields of rock and pile it up along the road side.  Our ride travels down small roads between the black walls of rough hewn rock. 

The traditional 3 abundances actually refer to 'stone or rock', rather than walls, which I realize doesn't start with a 'w', but includes all the other ways stone is used on the island.  Several excavations have unearthed stone burial sites and homes. More famous are the dolhareubang or stone grandfathers.  These squat stone men sit at the gate and guard the property. We were met at the airport by a pair dressed in swim wear and goggles, and I have started to spot others dotted around, often sporting something that applies to the business it stands guarding. 

If I hadn't just finished reading Han Kang's "We Do Not Part" then I would have scratched my head over the abundance of women on the island. At one time the women far outnumbered the men due to the men leaving the island for fishing and war. During the war time, men were conscripted or imprisoned, depending on the time. During the 50's many young men took to hiding in the various caves of the island to evade being captured and slaughtered by the secret police. After the WW2, right wing groups were insistent that Jeju was harboring communists and helped wipe out a large part of the island's population. Many men joined the navy just to avoid becoming a part of this violence against their homeland.  

Now the men are back, many still fishing or taking advantage of the government initiatives of small market gardening on the island. These small farms, covered in plastic film, can produce up to 3 harvests a year, by growing year round tropical fruits and vegetables. It is now August, but we see the fields being harvested and prepared for another planting.  So far I have enjoyed the locally grown bananas, tangerines, cherries, tomatoes and cucumber. 

My initial experience of the island has been dominated by three s's: sun, school & shopping. We live on a school campus that is part of Education City, alongside three other large international schools. The place is quiet because students and their families have not yet moved back for the start of the school year. I only venture out in the heat when I need to go shopping or eat.  I look forward to seeing how thing change as the weather cools and our neighborhood comes alive. 

Squid and Tangerines

 

One of the reasons I am attracted to travel is that it is a learning experience. I have never been one to lie by the pool at a resort, or make reservations for dining.  I find myself grappling with new alphabets, currency exchanges, and seeking out geographical attractions. I have enjoyed learning since my father took me on nature walks, and college courses excited me. There is so much out in the world to wonder at... and make sense of.

So coming to Jeju, Korea, is satisfying my curiosity. Flying in late at night, I noticed bright lights out to sea.  I learned they were fishermen catching squid: using the lights to attract and capture.

The poly tunnels, or plastic greenhouses, that dominate the landscape are used to grow all types of tropical fruits and vegetables year round. Starbucks serves tangerine, sweetcorn, and mugwort flavored coffee only on Jeju. This reflects the diversity of produce grown on the island.  The highest peak is a long extinct volcano that once spewed lava and covered the island in black basalt rock. The hills and islands that dot the coast are remnants of the lava piles and contain caves. The Jeju symbol is the Dol Hareubang (Stone Grandfather), carved rock statues believed to be guardians or totems. 

I have also worked out that US$1 is about ₩1500, but prices often do not include the last three zeros. I can order from Amazon here, but there are other, similar apps, that will deliver cheaper and faster.  Google maps doesn't help me get around in Korea, but there are other apps that do. You bus your own table here, and there is no tipping. I am intrigued at the different products in the grocery store, becoming aware that there is so much I still have not experienced. I pass a store that sells 'wine and ice scream' and I feel the urge to go in and check it out. 

There are other learning opportunities that are less about curiosity, and more about survival. In order to wash clothes in my apartment, I had to use Google lens to translate the symbols around the dial. I used the cycle that translates to 'functional clothing' and it took about an hour.  I then learned how to use the same machine to dry my clothes, and manually drain the water out the bottom.  I now know what all the switches and control panels do around the apartment... including the underfloor heating. This was learned by trial and error. And I have just about mastered the most confusing recycling system in the world. How many different plastics can there be? It was necessary to video all the bins and their contents, take notes, and ask for advice, but if that is what it takes... 

I have always loved learning new stuff.  I think that is why I went into education and continued taking new assignments. I know I learned more that my students, and was often disappointed that they didn't have that same hunger for finding out new and wonderful bits of information.  But we all march to the beat of our own drum, and mine is a thirst for understanding.

First Day Shopping ￦ith ￦

 

So we needed a few things for the apartment, and the school had organized a shopping day for new staff. We would be bussed into town, dropped off at a store, and then have our purchases transported back to our door. Although there were items I urgently needed, I was both curious to get out and see more of Jeju, and meet some of my neighbors.  Many of the other staff had arrived earlier and were a good source of information for Jon and I as we ventured out for the first time.

The bus headed towards the coast, past the tea plantations, plastic film greenhouses and small businesses offering stonework. Our first stop was a budget chain where everything was priced under $5 (￦5000). Surprisingly we found everything from wine glasses to cloth hangers and extension cords. The place was packed with stuff laid out over 3 floors. I had soon filled my shopping basket and was now using a laundry hamper to carry mops and cleaning supplies.  At the checkout I saw other shoppers with huge bags the size of a small child. We filled this, and then some, and packed it into the bus.  I did feel a twinge of guilt about the amount of cheap stuff each one of us was forced to purchase, knowing that it would all end up in a landfill sooner or later. But the truth is that it just wasn't practical to ship all our kitchen over to Jeju. I hope I can find someone to donate it to when I leave.

The bus then took us to an up scale supermarket near the World Cup soccer stadium. Brazil played here in 2002 and it certainly looks out of place on the southern coast of Jeju. Before doing our grocery shopping, we had lunch at McDonalds. Yes, I know that doesn't sound very cultural, but I was curious to see what was on the menu at a Korean McDonalds. I ordered a snack wrap from the electronic board, thinking it would be chicken like in the US. It turned out to be a crab cake. More interestingly, we shared a table with some school proctors, who take care of the boarding students. They answered all my questions and shared a bit of what it is like to be at a boarding school on Jeju. 

E-Mart is more than a supermarket: it carries Apple products and other electronics as well as several imported items.  I added a Nespresso machine to my cart and headed towards the bakery. We had been warned that Korea did not sell bread and that cheese products were rare. Here I found whole isles of breads and cheeses, although many were imported and very expensive. Much of the other items where frozen goods, all labeled in Korean.  So I used Google lens to translate the packaging. This helped me identify the chicken and pork sausages. I felt a little self-conscious using my phone to read all the labels, so I stuck to the more obvious foods.  I bought a bottle of what I think is soy sauce, but I'll have to taste it to actually find out.  Although we will probably eat out regularly and experience Korean cuisine, it is nice to have a few familiar tastes that remind us of home, like a cup of coffee in the morning. More importantly, I can now do laundry... if I can figure out the Korean washing machine.

Are you going there to ...live?

A valid question from our cab driver who had just picked us up with 8 pieces of luggage for a transfer to Seoul's Gimpo airport.  It was a hot, our domestic flight to Jeju island was leaving in under an hour, and we were struggling to lug around heavy suitcases, a bike box, guitar and set of golf clubs.  As much as I like traveling to new places, I dislike moving.  The unsettling process of going to a foreign country to work can take all the fun out of travel.

First, there is the exhausting process of applying for a work visa. Even though I am technically retired, I am still required to go through the process with Jon. There are endless forms to be filled out, documents to be notarized, and photos to be mailed. Then there is a lot of nervous waiting before you can make plans or buy plane tickets. Once we got the go ahead, we found there were no through flights to Jeju, which meant buying a separate ticket from Seoul on a flight from a different airport. I did plenty of online research as to how we could make this happen, but this is where AI fails. Most posts are made for Koreans going on holiday to the island of Jeju. There is no mention of the language difficulties or limited luggage size. 

We arrived in Seoul after a 14 hour flight with our various pieces of oversized luggage, too many to fit on two luggage carts. I had images of adventurers from the golden years of exploration arriving in bustling ports and having their shipping crates and trunks ferried off by charming locals.  Seoul airport is certainly bustling, but you are on your own. Most of the signage is in Korean, and the elevators are too small to fit more than a couple of regular size suitcases. My online research had told me to head for the airport bus, they 'limo', and buy tickets from a electronic kiosk. I had to ask for information three times before finding the bus station, and no one could tell us whether we could take a bike box.  It turns out we couldn't. The bus driver refused to let us board with our bags and boxes.  He told us to take a 'car van'.

Fortunately we went outside to the taxi rank and found a driver with a van. He didn't speak much English but communicated the price and converted it into dollars so we could understand.  In hind sight we should have gone directly to the taxi cabs, and not tried to navigate the elevators down to the bus station. We arrived in time to make our connecting flight to Jeju and no pieces of luggage were damaged or lost in the process. 

Now if we were joining the other holiday makers here, we would have booked a nice hotel not far from the airport for our first night.  But in our case we were picked up by our employer and taken to our new residence, picked out by them as conveniently close to work, but far from shops and restaurants. Also, it turned out we were on the second floor of a building with only one elevator. After hauling up the bags, I was ready for a shower and bed, but of course, there were no sheets on the bed or toiletries in the  bathroom.  We spent most of the night unpacking and making the beds. 

Today we explored the neighborhood without the use of Google Maps. Apparently there are regulations in Korea that prevent Maps from showing you different routes to drive or walk. So we found a Starbucks the old fashioned way, because we also don't have access to the app for delivery.  We did meet another teacher and her family at lunch who told us that things get better: she started out the same way but now lives in a house on the beach just 20 minutes away from school.  When you are traveling to live, then you have time on your side, and we will have time to shop for all those things we didn't bring... (like clothes hangers and wineglasses).

The Battle Hymn of the Grapes

 

Ten years ago, on returning to southern Minnesota for the summer, we discovered a local vineyard. Since this isn't the south of France, or California, we questioned the possibility that grapes would even grow in our area, let alone produce fine wine. Apparently the University of MN had created a hybrid that would withstand the weather and soil conditions in the midwest, and wineries were popping up all over. A year later we bought out first grape vines and planted them in the sunniest spot of our yard, my flower garden. Since then we have bought several more varieties and planted about the property, reading up on pruning techniques and building trellises.  

Now I cannot say that our vines are a complete success. Some die or get nibbled by rabbits and deer. We are not around to see the grapes ripen, and often the bunches are small and whither away. They don't respond well to dry weather, which means lots of watering. But we live in hope that a new year will bring a bumper crop that will make drinkable wine. I am also starting to question the point.

Today we talk of ecologically responsible gardens, that conserve water, minimize the use of pesticides, provide habitat for wildlife and pollinators. Our grapes really don't fit into this kind of garden. I am starting to look at my flowers in another way. They certainly attract pollinators.  I watch the butterflies and bees flutter and land on their favorites: bee balm, coneflower and milkweed.  I allow milkweed and Joe Pye weed to flourish, despite their size. And during the dry weather I notice that many of the native plants require no watering.  Black-eyed Susan and phlox grow, flower and seed themselves without any interference from me. But then, this should be obvious, because they are native and suited to this environment. 

I identify with the grapes, a non-native trying to put down roots in a foreign land. Wherever I go, I know I am welcome, but I do not really belong. I have to try harder to flourish, and I require more help and support than those who call that place their home.  In many places I have lived, I am fortunate to find local support in the form of locals who help me learn their ways and understand that I very much need their help.

These friends are similar to the native plants which are also non-invasive. They allow other plants to grow up around them, sharing the land. 

I do have to beware of the creeping bell flower which produces lovely purple bells, but left unattended will spread throughout the flower garden in a way that only weedkiller will control. There are some places that do not welcome visitors, strangers or foreigners, as they feel threatened. Those places choke the life out of you, force you to move on. 

 I have also noticed that tomato seeds from last year's crop will sprout and grow taller that the hot house plants a buy from the nursery. The seeds have earned their space, inheriting their suitability from their parents.  Though I may never feel like a native here, thriving in whichever place I choose to call home, I can wish this for my children.  Although none were born in the US, they are American and have a home here. They can call themselves natives, and that is something I have given them.

When Travel Doesn't Suit

 

We stayed in a charming vacation rental last week and really enjoyed the comfort of plush furnishings, pretty outdoor spaces and high end decor.  However, when we read the comments in the visitor book, we found various comments complaining of the quality of the pillows, number of towels, or lack of specific items of furniture. I was irked by the nit picking. The way I see it, if you require certain comfort items when you travel, you should bring your own, or stay home. And staying home was starting to look pretty good to me yesterday as I sat alone in a Walgreens parking lot at midnight. 

I was on my way to our family's annual 4th of July stay at the lake.  On the I was dropping off one passenger and picking up another in the Cities. On the whole, road travel in Minnesota is a breeze.  I was not at all worried about traveling at night, because I have a phone and a credit card. And as I had a bit of time to kill before picking up my son at the airport, I stopped for gas in west St Paul. This is a residential area I am unfamiliar with, but my phone directed me to the nearest Holiday station which turned out to be small with old pumps. The screen prompted: 'Card or Pay Inside'.  I inserted my card and got 'Sale cancelled'. I tried again and the screen went blank. I tried to start fueling and got 'Sale cancelled'. Once again I inserted my card, and this time it approved the sale but only gave me the options: 'Club card or Other ID'. I chose other ID and it asked for my phone number in order to send me text messages. It started to feel like I was in an alien country... why couldn't I just pump gas? I dubiously put in my phone number just to get 'Sale cancelled'.  I was about to give up and go elsewhere when I noticed the keypad had a CANCEL button. I kept pressing it until I got a 'Begin fueling'. I filled the tank and expected payment instructions but instead the screen just flashed: 'Thank you'.  So I left with a tank full of gas that I might or might not have paid for. 

I realized that I was lost and needed directions and a place to wait until the plane's arrival. So I pulled down the darkest side street in the city with no street lights or signs of life. I started to feel my aloneness. I pulled up the directions to a nearby Walgreens that advertised being open 24 hours. Driving in the dark is already a challenge, but having to hold my phone in one hand to follow directions made it worse. I think I probably ran a couple of red lights because I was concentrating so hard on Google maps. To make things worse, I started to received text messages which popped up and covered the directions. Any one-handed attempt to swipe them away made me lose everything and I had to reopen the app. I tried to prop the phone on the dash, but it kept falling to the floor.  My progress was erratic, but I eventually found the Walgreens where I rolled up the windows and locked the doors. 

By reading the texts I found that the flight had been delayed and I began to wonder about how safe my choice of waiting spot was. There were plenty of people around, but not people like me. They were skateboarders and several smokers. When one party came out with a pizza I decided to explore the store for a snack or drink while I waited. I was surprised to find all the shelves covered with plexiglass displaying the shampoo and deodorant in locked display cases. They must have a problem with shoplifting... maybe another reason not to hang around here too long. So when I received a text about another lot by the airport provided for cars waiting for passengers, I took off. 

The Cell Phone Waiting Lot  is bleak and hastily constructed with concrete barriers in the no-man's land between the terminals. However, this time I was surrounded by people like me. The heat forced people outside, pacing and talking on their phones. Although I felt safer, I also began to realize that I could just turn my car around and drive home to the comfort of my home. The flight had been delayed until the next morning, so I had 6 hours... I was very tempted to call it a day (or a night). But we don't travel just to find the comforts of home in another place.  Travel should be an adventure, exploring the unknown that might take us out of our comfort zone. It should provide us with a story to tell, of the new things we discovered.   So I checked into a cheap hotel, slept a few hours before picking up my son and continuing up to the lake where I am writing this account. 

The Pirate of the Air

 

I am leaving this island that has been my home on and off for 12 years. There is plenty to fret about as I navigate the last tasks of packing up and shipping out. I feel I need to get out and lift my mood so I take a walk.  Surprisingly it isn't raining... the recent storms have moved on.  I spot a frigate bird high above, soaring effortlessly on the ocean breezes. Suddenly it dives, attacking a much smaller Fairy Tern. Known as the 'pirate of the air'  these birds terrorize smaller birds into dropping or regurgitating their catch, which is then taken in midair. I am not going to use a cheap analogy of what is stealing my joy, but I am realizing that this curious scene did make me forget the past challenges and helped me concentrate on that which has brought me joy here on Kwajalein.

This island can be a challenging place to live: it's remote, lonely and without the comforts of home. If I am not careful, I will leave this place like Tom Hank's character on Cast Away, being rescued and asking for ice. So I went out to enjoy the sunshine, keeping to the ocean side to get the benefit of the breezes. I bumped into another couple who I haven't seen for a while and we reminisced of the old days when our families were with us and brought us joy.  I took time to comb the beaches for flotsam and sea life. I found the usual coconuts and flip flops, but also some blue lobster legs. A half full shampoo bottle covered in clams made me wonder how items end up washed up on this tiny speck of an island in the middle of the Pacific. 

The tide was coming in as I rounded the north end of the island, washing sea water over the reef into the lagoon. I laid my phone aside and took a dip in the warm water which has brought me so much joy snorkeling over the years: rays, sharks, clown fish and brilliant giant clams never ceased to take my breath away.  My next stop was a perfectly placed beach chair where I could sit on white sand with my feet in the waves. I couldn't resist another swim before continuing on to Emon beach to find a water fountain. I passed the A-frames and tables where we have met to enjoy a sunset and a picnic or party with friends and family. I am always surprised at how few people are at the beach, and the life guard has little to do. The water is safe swimming despite the abundance of hermit crabs and Huma-Humas. 

Now I start making my way home along the road by the lagoon towards the dock. This has great sunset viewing spots, more importantly, it has a lush variety of trees. I have found this a great place to identify and paint palms, acacia, huge shade trees and many more that were probably left behind when the residents of the trailers were turned out. I visit my favorite, Java Almond, with its delicate flowers and huge clusters of seed pods. I take photos that I can use as reference for botanicals. The dive flag is flying over the steps, and I climb up to view all the blues of the lagoon. There are snorkelers and a turtle surfaces showing me its beautiful mottled shell. This reminds me that we used to come down here most evenings to watch the sunset... before life got so busy. 

I also remember sitting on the bench waiting for the green flash that never happened; and going snorkeling in hopes of seeing something new and exciting, but finding a lot of nothing; and eating at the DFac but finding the food inedible and that they are out of most everything; and going to the snack bar where our family ate every Sunday right after church, only to find it no longer opens on Sundays; and going to work and finding the AC broken or the internet down; finishing work with no official sendoff or appreciation.  I could go on, but that would negate all the joy that I have experienced on this island, over the years.  So I just take another walk... and remember with gratitude the good times.